Five New Poems by Matt Duggan

The Citadel

Metal spikes made from blue glass and silver are unhooked –
pierced inside shop entrances when closed
like dystopian fly- traps laid out to deter the homeless;

Shopping mall and arcade are pitched and layered
in stolen quilts, tents, and corners of toy cardboard.

Between the thin cracks when the elevator rests
I hear a dead blues singer and her rasping tones
filtering through corners like light on flash white algae;
Towers in settler red and gold paint a self-portrait of this ci...